Jim Crow Laws: the origins, the laws and the fight back

As it is Black History Month, I decided to research more into the Jim Crow Laws. As a student, I had heard the term and the very basics of what they were, but I realize that I didn’t know anything beyond that. Named for a black minstrel character, Jim Crow Laws were a collection of state and local statutes which legalized racial segregation. These laws existed for about 100 years from the post-Civil War until 1968. What was the origins of the Jim Crow Laws? How were they expanded across the South and the nation? What helped bring the end of Jim Crow? And what type of Jim Crow laws were enforced in my home state of California?

Jim Crow Laws started as Black Codes as early as 1865 (Editors, 2018), which were strict laws detailing where and how the newly freed slaves could work and for how much. It was a legal way to put blacks back into an indentured servitude as their voting rights were essentially taken away, they were told where to live and how to travel. And since former Confederate soldiers were now serving as police officers and judges, there was no real legal recourse for the blacks to fight back (Editors, 2018). Jim Crow Laws started with restricting blacks from voting. They included literacy tests, poll taxes and a grandfather clause (Urofsky, 2019). The grandfather clause stated that men who were entitled to vote before 1867 and their lineal descendants were exempted from the literacy and other qualifications. Segregation didn’t begin immediately. Until 1877, New Orleans had fully integrated schools and North Carolina had blacks and whites serving on juries together (Urofsky, 2019). It didn’t truly begin until the Plessy v Ferguson (1896) which created the “separate but equal” standard.  From very early on, people were fighting back against Jim Crow Laws. Notably, Ida B Wells, who refused to leave a first-class train car designated for whites only (Editors, 2018). As well as Isaiah Montgomery who founded a black only town, Mound Bayou, Mississippi, in 1887. The town still is predominately black residents (Editors, 2018).

Jim Crow Laws would expand across the nation. Public parks would be forbidden for blacks to visit. Theaters, restaurants, waiting rooms, water fountains, restrooms, building entrances, even cemeteries would all become segregated (Editors, 2018). Some states would even require different textbooks for white and blacks students and different Bibles would be used to swear on in court (Editors, 2018). After WWI, lynchings and violence was on the rise. For several months in 1919, there were widespread race riots in the country. As black WWI vets were returning home and fighting back. “Between April and November of 1919, there would be approximately 25 riots and instances of mob violence, 97 recorded lynchings, and a three day long massacre in Elaine, Arkansas during which over 200 black men, women, and children were killed after black sharecroppers tried to organize for better working conditions” (Higgins, 2019). The Great Migration of the 1920s, as blacks were leaving the South, found Jim Crow Laws spreading to the North and Western states. In the North, suburban developments would not allow blacks to obtain mortgages for certain “red-lined” neighborhoods (Editors, 2018). As the country would fall into the Great Depression, racial tensions would only deepen.

The end of the Jim Crow Laws began with post-WWII and the Civil Rights Movement (late 1940s- late 1960s). In 1948, President Harry Truman would integrate the military. In 1954, the Supreme Court would rule in Brown v the Board of Education that the “separate but equal” standard was unconstitutional and would begin the national integration of schools. In 1964, President Johnson would sign the Civil Rights Act which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act would be passed, banning the use of literacy tests. In 1967, Loving v Virginia would end bans on interracial marriages. In 1968, the Fair Housing Acts ended discrimination in renting and housing sales (Editors, 2018). In 1971, the Supreme Court would uphold busing to insure integration of schools in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.

California had many laws which restricted people based on race. California produced more legislation against Chinese and other Asian descents due to the massive Asian immigration. In 1850, California passed a statute which stated that “no black, mulatto person, or Indian, shall be allowed to give evidence in favor or, or against, a white man.” In 1854, the California Supreme Court would rule that this statute also included individuals of Chinese descent. Between 1866-1947, California would pass 17 Jim Crow laws including anti-miscegenation (interracial marriages), education and employment. In 1891, all Chinese people would be required to carry a “certificate of residency.” If they were caught without it, they could be arrested and jailed. It would be illegal for whites to marry blacks, mulattos or Asian descents. It is interesting to note Hispanics were not included in the anti-miscegenation laws because they were considered white due to their Spanish heritage. Anti-miscegenation laws would be overturned in California with Perez v Sharp (1948) in which Andrea Perez (a Mexican American woman) and Sylvester Davis (a black man) were denied a marriage license in Los Angeles County. This case was the first in the 20^th century to overturn anti-miscegenation laws. Chief Justice Warren would use this case as the basis for the Loving v Virginia decision.

In conclusion, Jim Crow Laws were a massive systemic discrimination against blacks and, by extension, other minorities. They were implicated slowly and gained prominence by the turn of the 20^th century as the denials of basic rights like voting, housing and education were ways to keep prominent powerful white majority in positions of authority. The fight against them had been early on but didn’t gain momentum until after WWII as black vets returned home and said enough is enough. The history of Jim Crow Laws and other laws should not be ignored or forgotten. As we celebrate Black History Month, let us remember these horrible laws as we try to find a balance and harmony among ourselves.

References

Editors (February 28, 2018). Jim Crow Laws. History.com. https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-laws. Retrieved February 11, 2020.

Higgins, Abigail. (July 26, 2019). Red Summer of 1919: How Black WWI Vets Fought Back Against Racist Mobs. History.com. https://www.history.com/news/red-summer-1919-riots-chicago-dc-great-migration. Retrieved February 19, 2020.

Urofsky, Melvin I. (August 21, 2019). Jim Crow law UNITED STATES [1877-1954]. Britanncia.com. https://www.britannica.com/event/Jim-Crow-law. Retrieved February 19, 2020.

Elijah McCoy and Dr. Percy Julian

                

Elijah McCoy was born on May 2, 1844 in Colchester, Ontario, Canada. His parents were fugitive slaves who escaped in Canada from Kentucky via the Underground Railroad. When he was three years, his family would return to the United States and settle in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He would begin his career as a fireman and oiler at the Michigan Central Railroad. In his home-based machine shop, he would invent an automatic lubricator for oiling a steam engines of locomotives and ships. The lubricator would have trains and ships run moved effectively and efficiently. He would continue to refine his design as well as design new devices. He was recognized by Booker T. Washington’s Story of a Negro (1909) as having the most patents than any other black inventor at the time. Many of his inventions dealt with lubrication but few did not. For instance, the folding ironing board and the lawn sprinkler. He died on October 10, 1929 at the age of 86. He left a legacy of great inventions in which we still use today. The phrase “The Real McCoy” has been attributed to him. The story is that some train engineers would refer to his invention of the oil-drip cup as the Real McCoy System, not wanting to waste time with inferior devices. Although there are other possibilities to the origins of this phrase, I think I like the Elijah McCoy story better.

                Dr. Percy Lavon Julian was a U.S. research chemist and pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was also a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of human hormones, such as steroids, progesterone and testosterone. His work laid the foundation for cortisone, other corticosteroids and birth control pills. He would receive more than 130 chemical patents and he was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry and the first African-American chemist to be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences.

                Percy Julian was born in Montgomery, Alabama on April 11, 1899 and grew up during the racist times of the Jim Crow laws. His parents would encourage him and his siblings to pursue an education higher than an 8^th grade which was uncommon during this time. He would attend DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana where he would graduate in 1920 Phi Beta Kappa and valedictorian. He would earn his Ph.D. in 1931 at the University of Vienna. In Europe, he would enjoy freedom from the racial prejudices so common in the United States.  When he returned to the United States, most of this work would be done with Glidden. He died on April 19, 1975 at the age of 76 from liver cancer. 

all information was received from www.biography.com

Black History Month: Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington was an important educator and driving force behind the growth of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School which is now the Tuskegee University (www.nps.gov). He was also a man who has a few beliefs and views that angered the black activist of his day. Despite his controversial views, he became an icon for the black community.  He is described as a man who “lifted the veil of ignorance” (www.nps.gov).

Booker Taliaferro Washington was born April 5, 1856 on a small farm plantation in Piedmont Franklin County, Virginia. In his autobiography, Up from Slavery, he would describe his birthplace as a typical log cabin measuring 14’ by 16’. His mother was the plantation cook (www.nps.gov). After the Civil War, his family moved to Malden, West Virginia where he found jobs working in the salt mines as well as a houseboy for Mrs. Viola Ruffner, the wife of a local salt mine owner. She took an interest in Booker and his desire for an education. He would attend classes at a local school for an hour a day (www.biography.com).

His formal education would begin at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia where he worked as a janitor in order to pay for his room and board and the director Samuel Armstrong found a white benefactor to pay for his tuition (www.tuskegee.edu). He would graduate with honors in 1875 and return to Malden to teach. He soon would be approached to develop the Tuskegee Institute. He would become its first principal and where he would teach economic success and working hard in order to obtain “financial independence and cultural advancement” which would lead to eventually acceptance and respect from the white community (www.biography.com). He believed that the educational system should emphasizes practical skills and self-help (www.tuskegee.edu). He believed that subordination to whites was a necessary until African Americans could prove worthy of full economic and political rights (www.biography.com). This belief would anger his critics especially W.E.B. DuBois.

In 1895, Washington would give a speech in which he would explain his beliefs which is known as the “Atlanta Compromise.” In this speech, he stated that the African American communities should accepted “disenfranchisement and social segregation” as long as they would allowed economic progress, educational opportunities and judicial justice (www.biography.com). His statements would create a firestorm of criticism especially from DuBois who would criticize Washington for advocating white superiority and not demanding equality. Washington’s statement surprised me as I researched his life. His statements came at a time when there was severe segregation in the country especially the South. The African Americans would being systematically excluded from the political process through black codes and the Jim Crow laws.

In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt would invite Washington to the White House. The first African American to be honored with an invite. Roosevelt and later President Taft would ask for his advisement on racial matters. Quite possibly because Washington accepted racial subservience (www.biography.com). Although he openly supported racial subservience, he would secretly finance court cases challenging segregation. By 1913, he lost much of his influence especially in Washington as the Wilson Administration had no interest in racial integration and African American equality. He would remain as the head of the Tuskegee Institute until his death on November 14, 1915 at the age of 59.

Referneces

Biography website www.biography.com 

Tuskegee University www.tuskegee.edu 

U.S. National Park Service www.nps.gov